Bridge to Terabithia II: Saving the Queen
by CarlieChii
Summary: Terabithia has begun to crumble, and the Dark Master is slowly growing stronger. The kingdom is in danger of falling to the hands of the Dark Master, and it seems that the dead have returned with a dire warning for Jess. A war for Terabithia has begun.
1. Alone and Hopeless

**Okay, so this is my first story here on Fanfiction and I really hope that whoever reads this story likes it because to be honest, I was also never happy with the way the book ended so here's my version of a second Bridge to Terabithia. Hope you like! :D Please read and review! :3**

**I don't own Bridge to Terabithia. If I did, Leslie wouldn't have died.**

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><p>Chapter 1: Alone and Hopeless<p>

"JESS"

The young King of Terabithia gasped, his eyes snapping open at the sound of the familiar voice. Jess found himself standing in a forest. _The_ forest. The same forest where the kingdom of Terabithia had been created. Except, Jess was standing by the river, by the bridge, on the side that separated him from reaching Terabithia. Down by the edge of the river, Jess spotted Leslie and old wounds immediately opened again, reawakening his slumbering grief.

Jess now knew that he had never accepted Leslie's death, because when he saw her standing by the river, her back turned towards him, he felt so happy to see her again. But it was surely a dream, even if Jess wanted to believe it wasn't…

_Leslie… you're alive?_

A few more moments passed where Jess continued to stare at Leslie, half of him trying to convince him that she was dead and the other half desperately trying to tell him she was alive. When Leslie turned around to face him, Jess obviously wanted to believe that she was alive.

Leslie slowly started to walk up to him, her knees bending as she climbed the short hill to where Jess stood. Jess was frozen. Leslie smiled softly at him and hugged him. Jess eventually hugged back, his heart soaring with happiness. But he knew she wasn't alive. This Leslie wasn't real. But the light that shone from her body which lit up the forest made Jess want to believe she was.

_IDIOT! LESLIE'S DEAD! THIS LESLIE IS JUST...JUST A MEMORY…_

Still, convincing himself that Leslie was dead when she had her arms wrapped around his neck, her cheek pressed to his wasn't going to be easy. After holding her in his embrace for almost five minutes, Leslie pulled away from Jess, standing at arm's reach. She looked worried and frightened. Her blue-ish green eyes darting in different directions of the forest. Jess could hear shuffling in the darkness but nothing came out of the shadows. Not yet.

Leslie grabbed him by the arms, fear easily seen in her eyes. Jess stared at her.

"Jess!" Leslie whispered. "There's trouble in Terabithia!"

"Leslie?" Jess was able to whisper. "What are you talking about?"

"Jess, Terabithia's in danger!" Leslie whispered. "You have to save it!"

Jess looked at her, confused. He tried to pull his arms away from her but somehow, Leslie managed to hold onto him. Her eyes scanned the forest again before locking onto his again. The light slowly began to fade. Leslie was getting worried, Jess could tell. Her thin red jacket, which was torn and muddy, wasn't helping her stay warm, since the light slowly began to fade. It was weakening, which meant Leslie wasn't going to last long.

"Jess! I'm serious! Terabithia's in danger! You have to save the kingdom!" Leslie whispered, repeating what she had said earlier, although it didn't clarify what she was trying to tell Jess at all.

"What do you mean Terabithia's in danger?" Jess whispered, completely confused, although his mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour.

"I can't explain right now but I promise it'll be clear to you soon." Leslie whispered.

Leslie suddenly running off in the opposite direction of the river's current, into the darkest parts of the forest, leaving Jess standing alone in the darkness.

"Leslie…"

"Save Terabithia, Jess…" Leslie's voice echoed in the forest, although her presence was nowhere to be seen.

Jess tried to run but he found that he couldn't move his feet and the darkness around him began to get blacker and blacker until he couldn't see anything. The darkness had consumed him.

Jess awoke, instantly gasping for breath, his body covered in cold sweat. Jess slowly looked up, his eyes scanning the dark room. He was in his room. He could see the crib that Joyce Ann was sleeping in and he could see his sister May Belle also asleep in the bed across from his. He was safe. But he was still confused and frightened and he surely wasn't going to go back to sleep either.

Jess sighed, resting his head against the headboard. He closed his eyes, Leslie's words echoing in his head.

"_Jess, Terabithia's in danger!" … "You have to save it!"_

Jess sighed, feeling hopelessly alone, even more now than when he did when Leslie had died in the first place.

_How can I… when I didn't invite you to come to the museum with me…? How can I save you when I acted totally selfish just to have a day with Miss Edmunds…?_

Jess sighed. He didn't like Miss Edmunds anymore, especially since she was getting married next summer and wasn't going to be called _Miss Edmunds_ for so long either. Plus, all Jess could think about lately was Leslie and Terabithia. Miss Edmunds wasn't part of the picture anymore.

"_You have to save Terabithia, Jess…" _Leslie's voice rang in his head.

Jess sighed.

_How can I when I'm just going to screw up again?_

Leslie would obviously tell him to believe and to keep his mind wide open, like she always did when he felt down in the dumps but now, he was alone. Alone and hopeless...

Again.

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><p><strong>Sorry about dissing Miss Edmunds a little bit there at the end but I never really liked her, book nor movie. I'm not saying anything bad, she's just not my fave character, that's all. Leslie's going to come back to haunt Jess a couple more times and there's going to be a little surprise in the next chapter, if anyone is reading my boring rant. <strong>

**Well, please review this story! It'll help me a lot if you do! Flames are welcome.**


	2. New neighbors

**Sorry about the long wait! School got in the way and then my internet crashed just as I was gonna upload a new chapter! But here it is now! Hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing .**

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><p>Chapter 2: New neighbors<p>

"Jess! Wake up! Wake up! You're going to be late for school!" May Belle shouted, running over to Jess's bed.

Jess groaned sleepily and turned away from May Belle, hoping she would leave. However, his sister wasn't ready to leave yet.

"May Belle, leave me alone. It's a Saturday so quit trying to trick me."

May Belle crossed her arms and pouted, but her eyes sparkled with mischief and playfulness. She giggled.

"Wow, Jess! How did you know today is Saturday?"

"'Cuz yesterday was Friday?" Jess asked rethorically.

"Right!" May Belle said, her eyes sparkling.

"Now will you please leave?" Jess snapped, hoping he didn't sound too harsh.

May Belle put her hands on her hips, the young Princess of Terabithia appearing very demanding. May Belle pouted slightly.

"But we've got new neighbors! How can you not be excited about that, Jess?"

Jess felt a pang in his heart, although he couldn't understand why. He turned around to look at May Belle, his eyes examining her seriously.

"You're kidding, right?"

May Belle shook her head and smiled. She jumped onto Jess's bed and dragged him over to the window. He followed reluctantly.

"May Belle-"

"See! Down there, by Leslie's house! See the moving trucks?" She shouted excitedly, pointing at the old house next door.

"Yeah, I see it." Jess said.

_Why do we need new neighbors? _Jess thought. _They're also going to leave eventually anyways..._

"Whoa, where's the fire?"

May Belle and Jess turned around, finding their dad, Mr. Aarons, standing in the doorway, an amused smile on his face.

"Daddy! We're getting new neighbors!" May Belle shouted excitedly, jumping up and down.

Mr. Aarons chuckled.

"You're right about that. Say, I think the family moving in has a daughter around your age, Jess. Why don't you go say hi and introduce yourselves?"

"Can we, Jess?" May Belle asked, pulling at his shirt. "Can we? Can we?"

Jess looked at her.

"May Belle-"

"Daddy, can we?" May Belle asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Mr. Aarons couldn't help but chuckle again.

"Sure, you can. Today, after breakfast, you and Jess can go say hi to the neighbors. Now, I gotta go to work but you can tell me how it was when I get back."

"YAY!" May Belle shouted triumphantly. "Me and that girl are gonna be best friends! I just know it!"

Jess looked out the window at the moving trucks and glared at them. He wasn't so sure if he was going to like these "new neighbors" just yet.

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><p><strong>Surprise? Please review :3 I'll give yuuu a cookie ;D<strong>


	3. Kaytee

**Okay, so here's chappie numero tres! (I think that's how you say number in Spanish xD) Maybe this chapter sorta sucks but I won't be surprised if nobody likes it. Hope you like?**

**Kaytee and her dad belong to meeeeeee!**

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><p>Chapter 3: Kaytee<p>

"Come on, Jess!" May Belle shouted, bolting out the door as soon as she was done with breakfast.

Jess sighed. He didn't want to go greet the new neighbors.

"Jess," his mom said in a cajoling tone. "Go with May Belle and greet our neighbors."

Jess looked at her, lazily pushing his food around on his plate.

"Do I have to?" He asked.

"It would be neighborly, Jess." His mom replied, turning towards the sink to start washing the morning dishes.

"Your father and I will go greet the neighbors as soon as he gets home." His mom said, her tone of voice signaling that the conversation was over.

Jess sighed and pushed his plate away from him and walked out the back door. Next door, he saw May Belle talking with a girl around his age. The girl brushed a piece of loose red hair behind her ear and smiled at May Belle, listening to what she was saying. May Belle noticed him standing on their porch and waved at him to come over.

Swallowing his nervousness, Jess crossed the grass over to the girl and May Belle.

"Jess! Jess! This is Kaytee! She's going to be living here now!" May Belle shouted excitedly, jumping up and down.

Jess looked at Kaytee and she looked back.

"Kaytee, this is my big brother Jess. Jess, this is Kaytee." May Belle said, introducing them to each other.

Kaytee smiled at him.

"Hi, Jess." She said shyly. "I'm Kaytee Monroe."

"Hi." Jess said. "I'm... I'm Jess Aarons and this is my sister, May Belle."

"Nice to meet you."

"Kaytee!" Someone from inside the house shouted.

"Out here, Dad!" Kaytee called.

The soft clacking of boots on wood caused Jess to turn around. Standing on the torn up porch was a man with a face that seemed to have not been shaved in weeks. He wore a cowboy hat and boots and was smoking a cigarette. His faded, worn out, torn up jeans gave Jess the impression that this man seemed to care less about his appearance and more about other things.

Wrestling hogs seemed like a sport the man favored a lot more versus caring about at least looking generally decent. Jess knew his mom wasn't going to be so comfortable with this man who seemed to have come from the woods to try living in civilization again. This man was going to be the talk of the neighborhood before he could do anything to stop it.

"'Morning." He said to Jess, nodding at him.

"G-Good m-morning, sir." Jess replied.

"Kaytee, are the guys done unloading everything?" He asked.

"Pretty much." Kaytee replied.

The man nodded.

"Alright. I'll go find them and pay 'em. We've got a lot of unpacking to do so don't hang around for too long because I'm gonna need your help with this dingy porch." Kaytee's dad said, stomping his boot on the rotting wood porch that Leslie's dad had built a couple years ago.

"Okay, Dad!" Kaytee called.

Her dad turned around and walked back inside, muttering about something completely unrelated to the porch.

"So, are you going to come to school on Monday?" May Belle asked.

"I hope so." Kaytee replied, crouching down to lift a box off the ground. "Although Dad isn't sure which school to enroll me to."

"You could come to our school!" May Belle said.

"I'll ask Dad about it." Kaytee said with a smile.

"Need some help with unpacking?" Jess asked.

"No, I think we're all good here. Thanks anyways. See you guys later!" Kaytee said, heading into the house with the box.

"SEE YA!" May Belle shouted, waving goodbye.

Kaytee smiled acknowledgingly and then disappeared into the house.

"Jess, can we go to Terabithia?" May Belle asked.

Jess smiled.

"Sure." He said. "Come on."

Jess and May Belle turned and ran off towards the forest, watching as their kingdom appeared in front of them once more. And for the moment, Jess's uneasiness over his haunting dreams of Leslie were forgotten in the dust that he and May Belle had kicked up as they ran.

For now, all was peaceful.

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><p><strong>I got Kaytee's name from the label on my bird's food bottle because Katie is a lame and old-fashioned way of spelling the name. If you have pets of your own (especially birdies ;3) yu probably know what I'm talking about. And Kaytee's dad was inspired from Tallahassee from Zombieland. Hope you like? x3 R&amp;R plz :D<strong>


	4. Monsters in the Dark

**Truth is, I've written chapter 2,3 and this one on my phone xD Well, this one was partially written on my phone and then finished on my computer. Android FTW! (not) **

**I own Kaytee and her daddy!~**

Chapter 4: Monsters in the Darkness

"Jess! May Belle! Where have you been all this time?" Their mom asked when they came home just as dusk began to disappear and darkness took its place.

"I've been worried sick!"

May Belle smiled at her mom.

"Me and Jess were playing a game and we lost track of time!" May Belle lied.

Her mom put her hands on her hips, unimpressed.

"That's the excuse I hear from May Belle every single time you two come home late! Jess, tell me the truth! Where were you and May Belle and what were you doing all this time?"

Jess put on an innocent face.

"Mom, we really did lose track of time!" He said, trying to convince her.

His mom looked at him suspiciously. She sighed in defeat at last.

"Fine." She said.

Jess and May Belle both breathed a sigh of relief, glad that their secret of the kingdom of Terabithia hadn't been let out yet.

"But from now on, you two have to be back in the house before 9:00, understand?"

"But-" May Belle started.

"Alright, Mom, whatever you say," Jess said.

"That's what I want to hear." She said. "Care to join us for dinner so we can be a family at the table?"

"Sure!" May Belle said, running into the kitchen.

"Jess, are you going to join us?" His mom asked.

"Sure," Jess said.

He followed his mom into the kitchen, where May Belle was telling their dad all about the Monroes.

Ellie rolled her eyes and groaned. "May Belle, stop talking about the neighbors, okay? Those people are lunatics!"

"No, they're not!" May Belle shouted defensively, jumping to her feet.

"May Belle, Ellie, both of you, calm down!" Mrs. Aarons ordered.

"But Daddy, they're not lunatics! Katie's really, really nice!" May Belle protested to Mr. Aarons.

"May Belle, they're rednecks, for Pete's sake!" Brenda said, siding with Ellie. "For all you know, we could be living next to a family of criminals or killers!"

"THEY'RE NOT! THEY'RE NOT! THEY'RE NOT REDNECKS! THEY'RE NOT CRIMINALS! THEY'RE NOT KILLERS! THEY'RE NORMAL PEOPLE LIKE US!" May Belle shouted.

"May Belle-" Jess said.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Jess saw his father slam his hands on the table and stand up, glaring over the suddenly silent table with anger.

"Everybody, quiet down now! I don't want to hear any more bickering out of anybody here at the dinner table ever again!" Mr. Aarons demanded.

Everybody at the table just stared at Mr. Aarons. Mr. Aarons looked at Brenda and Ellie.

"Brenda, Ellie, you two are excused from the table." Mr. Aarons said.

The two girls looked at each other and then got up and stormed off into the living room.

"So you say the neighbors are nice, May Belle?" Mr. Aarons asked, continuing as if the little interruption hadn't happened.

"Yeah, they are! And Katie's dad is so cool! He dresses like a cowboy!"

Mr. Aarons chuckled.

"Alright, I see you had a nice time today. Alright, May Belle, go play. I have to to talk to Jess."

"Okay!" May Belle said, running out of the kitchen.

Mr. Aarons leaned over the table slightly to Jess.

"Jess, I know your mother said that you can't go out of the house after nine but May Belle accidentally broke one of the pots in the greenhouse and I'm asking you to go and clean it up. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"But what about Mom? What if she catches me sneaking into the house?" Jess asked.

"Don't worry, I'll deal with her if that happens." Mr. Aarons promised.

"Okay, thanks Dad." Jess said.

"Hurry, though. I don't want you out there for too long and turn on the lights when you get to the greenhouse." Mr. Arrons said.

Jess nodded and walked out of the kitchen. He headed towards the front door and snuck outside after making sure his mom or sisters weren't watching. He ran to the greenhouse and flicked the switch. Within moments, the lights flickered on, casting a dim light in the greenhouse.

Jess noticed the flower pots on the floor of the greenhouse, dirt and hardened clay and bits and pieces of flowers scattered all around. He grabbed a dust pan and a broom and walked over to sweep up the shattered pots and dirt. Just as Jess was about to lean down and start to sweep everything up, he spotted a set of glowing yellow eyes in the back of the greenhouse, where the lights above him couldn't reach.

Jess stared for a couple seconds and then spun on his heel and ran out of the greenhouse as fast as he could, leaving the dustpan and broom behind. He pulled open the door to the house and ran inside, slamming the door and locking it behind him.

"Jess?" His mom called, walking into the hallway. "What happened?"

"Noth-Nothing!" Jess said, breathing heavily, his back still pressed to the door like his life depended on it.

Maybe it did.

His mom gave him a look and crossed her arms.

"Jess, did you go outside when I told you you can't?" She asked.

"N-No!" Jess said, trying to lie.

"Jess, I know you're lying."

"No, it's okay. I sent him out to go sweep up the flower pots in the greenhouse." Mr. Aarons said.

Jess's mom glared at his dad and then nodded with a huff.

"Fine." She said. "But no more sneaking out for you, Jess and you stop letting him out late at night."

Mr. Aarons nodded. Jess let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"Okay, Mom."

To be honest, Jess didn't feel like _ever_ sneaking out again. He wasn't one to believe in monsters and the boogeyman but whatever he had seen in the greenhouse was definately something unhuman.


	5. Loyalty to Leslie

**Okay… my brain is fried but I still somehow managed to update. xD Enjoy! =3**

Chapter 5: Loyalty to Leslie

"Alright, guys, calm down!" Jess's eighth grade teacher, Mr. Garvin, shouted. "We have to listen to the announcements!"

Jess sighed. The announcements were the same every year. By now, he was sick to death of hearing the same old things every year.

And he wasn't actually looking forward to graduating later in the spring.

Jess still missed Leslie. Just to see her once more. One more time, just to hug her, just to tell her he was sorry, just to hear her voice again. And he wasn't exactly relieved of his heartache by having Leslie haunt nearly every night either.

Jess just wanted to scream out at the world. To accuse everybody who made fun of Leslie that it was their fault she died. But no, it wasn't right to accuse others who had no part in Leslie's death.

Especially when Jess knew that deep down, even after three long years, it was his fault Leslie drowned. People have told him to move on but Jess knew that part of him was always going to be holding on to the past.

Once the announcements were over, Mr. Garvin gave everybody in Jess's class an assignment to do and then left the room. The moment the door closed, the classroom turned into a zoo. Jess groaned.

Not again.

Jess understood that Mr. Garvin was a new teacher straight out of college but if the class ended up acting like this every time he left the room, Jess was going to lose his mind!

And to make things worse, Gary Fulcher and Scott Hoager were both in his class this year. But as far as Jess could tell, Gary wanted nothing to do with him and neither did Scott.

At least not yet.

Mr. Garvin returned a few moments later with a folder in his hands and behind him came a girl with red hair. Jess immediately recognized her.

It was his neighbor, Kaytee Monroe.

The classroom fell silent the moment Kaytee entered the room. Kaytee just looked at them, no longer the smiling shy girl she was when Jess had introduced himself to her.

Mr. Garvin put the folder he had been holding on his desk and walked around it to stand in front of everybody.

"Okay, we have a new student, guys. This is Kaytee Monroe. She must moved here last week, from what the principal told me. Want to introduce yourself, Kaytee?"

Then, Kaytee suddenly smiled and turned to look at the class.

"Hi! My name's Kaytee Monroe and I moved here from Philadelphia last week with my dad." She said happily.

"Can you do anything cool?" Some boy in the class asked

"Like what?" Kaytee asked.

"Anything cool!" He said.

"Well, I can dance." Kaytee said.

"Lame." The boy said.

Kaytee rolled her eyes. Mr. Garvin sighed.

"Sorry, Kaytee. Go have a seat by Scott Hoager. Hope you like it here."

"Thanks, Mr. Garvin." Kaytee said sweetly.

Kaytee walked to the back of the room and sat down in the empty desk by Scott Hoager. Jess shook his head.

Scott was going to give Kaytee a lot of trouble. He knew it. Scott never cared for anybody and Kaytee was no exception.

Kaytee would be lucky if Scott and Gary gave her a couple days before they made her one of their victims.

But much to Jess's surprise, he heard friendly chatter coming from the back of the room. He turned his head around and saw Kaytee and Scott just talking casually.

Jess turned around and sighed.

Even though he was annoyed and slightly surprised with Scott and Kaytee right now, he knew that he had bigger problems to worry about.

What did Leslie mean when she said that Terabithia was in danger?

It was a kingdom created from the imaginations of two lonely kids. It couldn't possibly be destroyed.

But Jess knew he wouldn't be having weird dreams almost every night if it wasn't in danger. Sure, he occasionally dreamt of Leslie but ever since she started haunting him, Jess felt it was something more serious.

But what?

He'd have to go and check afterschool today. Hopefully, everything would be okay when he got there.

After all, Terabithia was where their friendship began.

And keeping it safe was Jess's job. A duty he had given to himself as soon as he accepted Leslie's death.

But he wasn't ready to accept any damage done to his kingdom.

Never.

He was going to be loyal to Leslie and keep their kingdom safe.

It was the least he could do for her.

**Okay… review please *makes a begging face* Reviews make me happy :3**


	6. Distrust

**Finals are over so my life is now not as hectic as it was. *starts dancing* Okay, I'm shutting up now! X3**

**Only Kaytee and Tex belong to me. Everything else is Kat Patterson's. **

**ENJOY! =D**

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><p>Chapter 6: Distrust<p>

"And my teacher is really awesome!" May Belle said on the way to the bridge that led to their kingdom. "She knows how to juggle and she can do ninety push-ups in a minute!"

"Heh, that's cool." Jess said.

"So how's your class, Jess?" May Belle asked curiously.

Jess sighed.

"Well, Kaytee's in my class." Jess said.

May Belle squealed happily.

"That's so awesome!" She said.

"Yeah..." Jess said.

_The only problem is that she's hanging out with Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher._ Jess added to himself.

Even though they were neighbors and Kaytee seemed like a nice girl whose heart was probably pure of all evil, Jess knew they weren't going to get along easily if Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher were going to constantly get in the way.

Kaytee and Scott seemed to be good friends and they barely knew each other for less than a day.

Wonderful...

Jess knew he wasn't going to be surprised if Kaytee and Scott ended up being best friends and then ganged up on him at the same time. But May Belle's hand tugging on his arm pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Jess, who's that?" May Belle asked.

Jess stopped and do did May Belle. A head of red hair appeared from behind the trees and Jess knew who it was.

Kaytee.

"Kaytee, what are you doing here?" May Belle called.

Kaytee turned her head to look at Jess and May Belle.

"I could you ask you guys the same thing." She said.

Jess hesitated. Kaytee smiled.

"You first." She said.

Jess sighed.

"We hang out here after school." Jess said.

Kaytee smiled.

"Awww... How sweet." She said.

"Your turn," Jess said.

Kaytee shrugged. "I got bored and decided to go exploring the place around the house a little bit."

"What about Mr. Garvin's assignment?" Jess asked. "And what about your other classes? I heard the teachers gave everyone a lot of homework."

Kaytee smiled.

"Oh, Scott did Mr. Garvin's homework for me and he helped me finish my other homework during lunch." Kaytee said.

Jess's eyes widened.

Scott Fulcher? The slacker? The bully? Helping somebody? Being nice?

"You've got to be kidding." Jess said.

"Nope." Kaytee said, shaking her head. "He helped me cheat on a surprise quiz in math class today."

Jess raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"You're kidding, right?" He said.

Kaytee shook her head.

"Nope! We both got an A+ on it!" She said.

Jess sighed.

"He's just trying to gain your trust so he can use you." Jess said.

Kaytee rolled her eyes.

"Jess, I don't know... Scott's really nice to me. I'm not sure he's not as bad as you say he is."

"Once you get to know him, you'll agree with me." Jess said.

Kaytee smiled slightly.

"We'll see about that." She said.

Jess nodded.

_You don't have to believe me now but later, you'll see I'm right. _Jess thought.

Kaytee sighed, shaking her head. She brushed some hair from her face and slung her backpack on her shoulder. She looked at Jess.

"Well, I have to go home. Dad wants to finish the porch before the winter sets in." Kaytee said.

Jess simply nodded.

"Oh, by the way, Jess, did you build that bridge?" Kaytee asked.

Jess nodded. "Yeah." He said.

Kaytee smiled.

"Not a bad job." She said.

"Um, thanks?" Jess said, unsure if Kaytee was being sarcastic or sincere.

"Okay, I gotta go." Kaytee said. "See you at school, Jess."

"Yeah, see you." Jess said.

"See ya!" May Belle called.

Kaytee ran off on the path without turning around to acknowledge May Belle and soon disappeared in a cloud of dust. May Belle looked at Jess.

"Do you think she's nice, Jess? I think she's nice." May Belle said happily.

Jess smiled at his sister.

"Yeah, I think so." Jess lied.

Truth was, Jess didn't care so much about Kaytee. She was nice most of the time but something about her made his blood boil and his palms sweat.

It was scary because Jess never felt like that before...

"Come on." Jess said. "Let's go to Terabithia."

May Belle and Jess crossed the bridge, watching their kingdom open up in front of them. Moments later, they disappeared into the leaves, leaving no trace of their presence or the kingdom's in the forest.

As they entered their kingdom, Jess was secretly on high alert.

Now it was time to see why the kingdom was in danger.

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><p><strong>Please review and make my day =3 I will love you forever and ever and ever. Plus, for anyone who reviewed, I love you! X3<strong>


	7. Losing Hope

**Nothing much to say except for… ENJOY!~**

Chapter 7: Losing Hope

As far as Jess could tell, there was nothing wrong with Terabithia. Everything was peaceful. But then again, Leslie had never said what was specifically happening to Terabithia that meant it was in danger. But Jess somehow felt that he had overlooked something.

He just wasn't sure what he had missed.

Jess checked his watch and noticed it was getting late. He looked up at the sky, desperately searching for a sign from his long-gone queen.

_Leslie, if you can hear me, please just give me a sign. Help me figure out why our kingdom is falling apart. Who is trying to destroy what we created?_

To Jess, it seemed impossible that Terabithia could be falling apart. It was an imaginary kingdom, after all. And the Dark Master was also a part of the imaginary kingdom.

How could he possibly exist all of a sudden?

As Jess stared at the setting sun in the distance, he suddenly heard Leslie's voice in his head.

_You'll be the savior of Terabithia. I have faith in you._

Jess sighed and shook his head.

_I still don't understand why you're putting all of your trust in me, _Jess thought.

As if Leslie had actually heard him, a soft, wispy voice responded to his comment.

_Because you're the last founder of Terabithia. You're strong; you can protect your imagination._

Jess sighed, slightly confused with what Leslie had just "told" him. He looked back at the sun and noticed it was setting. The sky was almost dark. He had to be getting home or his mom was going to be on his tail for breaking the rules.

Gathering his things, Jess suddenly heard a low growl in the darkness of the forest, which immediately put his senses on high alert. The growling persisted for a few more minutes and then suddenly stopped.

Jess took in a deep breath and slowly began to gather his things, being as quiet as possible to not get the attention of whatever was out there in the darkness. Jess slowly climbed out of the tree house and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he broke into a run and didn't look back.

**Meh… I have to write an essay for my AP U.S. History sign up for tomorrow. I don't want to do it but… I have to if I want to get in. w But anyways, hope you enjoyed it! *w* R&R plz! **

**Btw, I **_**might**_** be changing my username (again.)**


	8. Crappy day

**This chapter was inspired by my crappy Wednesday. Hope you like. =D**

Chapter 8: Crappy day

As soon as the passing bell rang, Jess felt utter relief. The pressure in his chest disappeared and as he packed up his things, he couldn't help but feel relieved for once that he had sixth period lunch. But he knew that he wasn't going to be free until he got out of creepy old Mrs. Hayes's line of vision.

But then again, he had lunch next so he had plenty of time to chill and recover from the shock of taking the hardest test in the world and from the fear that he had probably failed. But, then again, everybody in his class seemed to be thinking the same thing and were in a huge rush to get out of Mrs. Hayes's classroom almost as much as Jess was.

Jess handed his test to Mrs. Hayes and started to walk out of her class.

"Mr. Aarons, wait a minute, will you?" Mrs. Hayes called.

Jess tried to hold back the annoyed sigh that lingered on his lips as he turned around and walked back to Mrs. Hayes's desk. She looked up at him through her thick-rimmed glasses and Jess felt the temptation to just walk off but he didn't.

If he did, Mrs. Hayes would have his head. And then so would his parents and Jess knew he honestly didn't need anymore problems at home when he was really trying hard enough not to flunk school.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"The polite way to respond is 'yes, Mrs. Hayes?,' not 'yeah?'" Mrs. Hayes said mockingly.

Jess stood in front of her desk, silent, uninterested in her annoying ranting.

"Honestly, teens these days!" She said under her breath although Jess could clearly hear her word for word.

Jess fought the temptation to roll his eyes at her. Mrs. Hayes looked at his test paper and then back at him.

"Lately, your test scores have been pretty down. Have you been studying?" She asked.

"Yeah, I have." Jess said.

Mrs. Hayes gave him a suspicious look.

"If you are, you're obviously not studying hard enough." She said.

Jess sighed. Wonderful... Now not only did he get a lecture from his parents about his poor grades just last night but his crazy history teacher was also giving him the same lecture he had heard at home and regularly heard at school from her anyways.

"If you think you can slack off in my class, I'll make sure you're dead before that happens." Mrs. Hayes said threateningly.

Jess didn't say anything to the comment Mrs. Hayes just made.

"Mr. Aarons, if you don't study, you're really going to fail middle school and then you'll also fail high school later in life." Mrs. Hayes informed him.

As if he didn't know that already.

"I know, I know." Jess sighed. "I'm trying to bring up my grade but some things happened at home. I'll get it back up soon."

Mrs. Hayes obviously didn't listen to a word he said, but it didn't surprise Jess at all.

"If you're struggling, you should go ask Miss Monroe or Mr. Hoager for help. I'm sure they'll go out of their way to help you." Mrs. Hayes said.

Jess almost died right then. Ask Kaytee and Scott for help? Ask the twin devils for help to raise his grade? Hell no! He'd rather fail history and have to live like a homeless man for the rest of his life.

"I don't know them too well." Jess lied. "I'm not too sure if they'd appreciate me taking up their time."

He wasn't really lying but he didn't want to go ask his enemy since sixth grade or his eccentric neighbor for help. Jess didn't want to look hopeless and he didn't want to give Scott a new idea on how to make fun of him.

"It doesn't matter, Jess. Plus, if you have the chance to ask for help, do it." Mrs. Hayes said. "I'll be expecting better class participation and more productive homework and classwork assignments from you. And make sure that grade goes up." Mrs. Hayes said.

"Okay, got it." Jess said.

Jess walked out of Mrs. Hayes's classroom before she could bring up another part of his already crappy performance in her class that he didn't want to hear about. However, waiting outside of the classroom for him were none other than, of course, Kaytee and Scott.

Scott smirked at Jess. Kaytee just stood by Scott, smiling at Jess. Jess didn't sense anything mischievous coming from Kaytee, who wore a purple, flower-patterned sundress, a pair of baggy black sweats that were stuffed into her knee-length cowgirl boots and a gray hoodie that looked like it was sewn together by an amateur. But then again, everything Kaytee wore looked like it was sewn by hand by somebody who had little to no experience in sewing.

Scott cracked his knuckles and then smirked at Jess again.

"Wanna fight?" He asked, getting all up in Jess's face.

Jess noticed his shirt said "beer pong king" on it. Jess scoffed at his shirt. So Scott was already drinking and getting hangovers. Nice. And probably because she was hanging out with him all the time, Kaytee probably was too.

"No, thanks." Jess said, brushing him off.

Scott backed away for a moment, making an irritated 'tsk' sound with his tongue.

"I heard you need help with studying for the old bat's class." Scott said tauntingly.

"Where'd you hear that from?" Jess asked, playing dumb.

"From that old witch's mouth, duh! We heard her lecturing you!" Kaytee added with a mischievous grin.

Jess glared at Kaytee, giving her a warning look that said "watch it."

"So? When do you want us to teach you the ABC's?" Scott asked mockingly. "How about after naptime?"

"Shut up, Hoager." Jess said.

"You think you're so tough-" Kaytee scoffed.

Jess glared at Kaytee.

"Trust me, I'd kick your ass too just if you weren't a girl." Jess said with a threatening tone of voice.

Scott stepped in front of Kaytee, crossing his arms across his chest.

"You're too much of a chicken to hit me, Aarons!" Scott said challengingly.

Jess rolled his eyes and pulled out his I-pod and turned it on.

"That's because I don't want to." He said dismissingly.

"So you are a chicken."

As soon it started to play music, he stuffed the headphones in his ears and smirked at Scott and Kaytee, making motions with his hands around his ears, mouthing that he couldn't hear them.

Scott sniffed and then spun around and stalked off with Kaytee following him down the long hallway. Jess rolled his eyes and headed outside into the schoolyard, music blasting in his ears. However, it didn't drown out the annoying voices of Kaytee, Scott and batty Mrs. Hayes.

Jess then hoped today wouldn't get any worse than it already was but something told him something was going to happen sometime today. He wasn't sure what was going to happen but he didn't have a good feeling about it either.

"Hey, you," a teacher said, pulling Jess over to the side.

"Yeah?" Jess asked, pulling out his headphones out of his ears.

The teacher pointed to his I-pod with a perfectly manicured, crystal clear nail.

"Turn it off." She said sternly.

"But its my lunch period." Jess said.

The woman shook her head and held out her hand.

"Turn it off or I'm going to have to take it away." She said.

Jess sighed and held the on/off button until the screen went black. The teacher nodded, satisfied. She smiled at him.

"You seem to be a good kid." She said. "Just don't use your I-pod in school, okay?"

Jess nodded. The teacher nodded as well.

"Alright, get going," she said.

The teacher headed back into her classroom, closing the door behind her. Jess stuffed his I-pod into his pocket and he started to walk towards the exit doors that would take him to the courtyard but shouting and cursing suddenly caught his attention.

For some reason, Jess ran in the direction of the yelling and found Kaytee and Scott trying to tear each other apart with good old-fashioned punches. Jess quickly tried to pull them apart and somehow managed to get a teacher's attention as well. The teacher, which just happened to be the Dean of Student Activities, the stern and frightening Mr. Hawkins. The only man who had a firm control of the school other than the principal.

"All three of you. In the discipline office. Now." He said sternly.

Jess walked in between Kaytee and Scott, hoping that they wouldn't try to fight over his head but neither of them even looked at each other. Jess groaned softly, suddenly wishing that he hadn't tried to break up the fight.

Now he was probably going to get interrogated and who knew what else.

Scott glared at him from the chair in the corner of the room and Kaytee glared back, her arms crossed across her chest, her face fixed in a scowl. Jess leaned back in his chair, nervously running his hands through his hair.

And that's how Jess found himself in the discipline office.

With two pissed off teens both giving him the stink-eye, Jess couldn't help but wonder if things couldn't get worse. But with the way his day was going, anything could happen so he reminded himself to not be surprised if the world ended right then.

But then again, Jess somehow felt that he'd rather have the world end than sit in the discipline office waiting for his turn at getting interrogated.

**Hope you liked?**


	9. Shake on it

**I know nobody's reading this fanfiction anymore but if you are, please review! Don't be a creeper!**

**Thank you. Now enjoy! :3**

Chapter 9: Shake on it

"Alright, I want to know who started this fight." Mr. Hawkins demanded firmly.

All three teenagers looked at him. None of them wanted to start talking first, because of the fear of being branded as the snitch later on. Mr. Hawkins glared at the kids through his thick-rimmed glasses and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"One of you better say something or I'll just get all three of you suspended." He said.

Kaytee sighed and calmly lifted her arm and pointed at Scott, whose eyes widened with fury.

"He started it, sir." Kaytee said calmly.

"She's lying!" Scott protested, trying to deny what was actually true.

Mr. Hawkins waved Scott off and looked at Jess and then back at Kaytee.

"And what did he do to you?" Mr. Hawkins asked Kaytee, pointing at Jess with his thumb.

"He tried to break up the fight, that's all. He didn't have anything to do with the actual fight." Kaytee said with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

Mr. Hawkins looked at Jess with slight suspicion but then he nodded.

"Alright." He said and walked back to his desk without another word. But that didn't mean Kaytee, Jess or Scott were off the hook.

Jess groaned. This was a nice day to be stuck in the Discipline Office. And it was even better that he was stuck with Kaytee and Scott, the two people who he liked the least.

"Alright, I want to hear what happened from all three of you. Hoager, come with me. You're first." Mr. Hawkins said.

Scott got up and followed Mr. Hawkins into his office and closed the door behind him. Time for interrogation session number one with Scott Hoager. Jess somehow knew that he was next and it really wasn't going to be any more fun. In fact, he didn't think he had ever had such a fun day ever on his life! He was so happy to be in the Discipline Office! It was a dream come true!

Not. Jess slammed his head against the wall behind him. He was really mad. How could a good deed like breaking up a fight cause him to end up in the Discipline Office? That really wasn't fair.

"Just my luck..." Jess hissed to himself under his breath.

"Don't worry," Kaytee said to him, "you'll get off easily."

"How would you know?" Jess said.

Kaytee shrugged.

"Scott's well-known here in the discipline office. They're not going to go easy on him once I'm done talking." She said.

Jess sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"That doesn't let me just walk out of here like nothing happened." He said.

Kaytee smiled. "No, because that would make you a bigger suspect in this whole mess but trust me on this, Jess." Kaytee said.

Jess looked at her. "Promise not to get me in bigger trouble than I am in for?" He asked.

Kaytee smiled and held out her hand.

"Let's shake on it." She said.

Jess took Kaytee's hand and shook it. Mr. Hawkins came out only moments later, after Jess and Kaytee had pulled their hands away. Thankfully, nobody saw a thing.

Scott slammed down in the chair, muttering curse words under his breath.

"Miss Monroe, you're next." Mr. Hawkins said.

Kaytee followed Mr. Hawkins into his office but she crossed her fingers behind her back for Jess, letting him know she wasn't going back on her word. Jess smiled for the first time today, feeling very relieved.

Maybe Kaytee wasn't all that bad. In fact, right now, she was his one and only ticket out of this mess. Jess knew he was going to have to trust her.

**Blah… hope you liked it. Please review. Reviews are sexy! xD**


	10. Developing a friendship

**Just doing a quick update. I hope you guys (if anybody's still reading this) enjoy this! And thanks for the constructive criticism, everybody! You guys are really helping me get better at writing!**

**Disclaimer: The original Bridge to Terabithia belongs to Katherine Patterson. I only own Kaytee and her dad. (And Kitty!)**

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><p>Chapter 10: Developing a friendship<p>

When Kaytee emerged from Mr. Hawkins' private office with a smile on her face, Jess felt instantly reassured. Kaytee sat down in her seat again and Mr. Hawkins simply glared at Jess with his arms folded across his chest.

"I don't know what to do with you, Aarons." He said. "Miss Monroe insists you had nothing to do with this. You seem innocent of any crimes brought against you so you are free to leave." He said.

"What about Kaytee?" Jess asked.

"I still have some business to finish up with her and Mr. Hoager here. They'll be allowed to return to their classes as soon as their parents arrive so I can discuss the situation with them."

Jess nodded and after Mr. Hawkins wrote him a pass for him to hand to his teacher, Jess left the Discipline Office. As soon as the door slammed behind him, he walked off to class. For a few minutes as he slowly went to class, hoping to kill as much time as possible before he got there, Jess could barely breathe. He couldn't feel his lungs at all. It was like somebody had ripped them out of his chest but had somehow managed to keep him alive without him needing some of his most valuable organs. When Jess got to class, which was his algebra class, he handed his teacher the pass Mr. Hawkins had given him and walked to the back of the room and slammed down in his seat. He finally regained his ability to breathe. Jess lavished the feeling of fresh air going in and out of his lungs and through his nose and throat. The lightheaded feeling in his brain disappeared and his nerves were somewhat soothed.

And for having trusted Kaytee, Jess felt relieved that she hadn't pulled him into their mess. She was a good girl. Jess kind of felt bad for judging Kaytee just because she had hung out with Scott Hoager for most of the first few weeks of school.

Jess opened his algebra book on his teacher's orders and took out a pen and a piece of paper. On that sheet of paper, Jess wrote out a sentence he never thought he'd direct towards Kaytee.

_Thanks for getting me out of trouble with Hawkins, Kaytee. I owe you one.  
>~Jess<em>

Jess knew that even though she'd never get it from him, Kaytee most likely knew he was grateful. For the first time all year, he felt excited to see his new neighbor in his classes and was even excited to wait for her by her locker after school, which was something he was going to do for the first time. As soon as he could find out where it was, that was.

...

"Hey, Kaytee." Jess said when his redhead neighbor arrived at her locker.

"Hey," she said quickly, sounding quite bitter. Maybe Hawkins had given her a horrible punishment that made her not want to talk to anybody. Her body looked stiff, making her look like she wanted to punch somebody. Jess hoped it wasn't him she wanted to punch.

"How'd the interrogation go with your dad?" Jess asked as Kaytee stuffed her books into her backpack.

Kaytee shrugged and continued to put books and notebooks into her bag. Jess's eyes drifted to the inside of Kaytee's locker door. There were all kinds of photos of celebrities and bands pinned up by magnets. Jess recognized a couple celebrities, including Leonardo Dicaprio, Jesse McCartney, Aaron Carter, Metallica, Pink Floyd but for the most part, Jess barely knew any of the people Kaytee had taken pictures of. Kaytee sure traveled a lot, since there were pictures of her and her dad at the circus and at the Grand Canyon and many other places too. Another fact Jess realized about Kaytee: she obviously belonged to a rich or at least an upper middle-class family to be able to travel around the globe like it was nothing.

"He wasn't, like, angry _with me_ or anything but I could tell from the look on his face that he was furious for what had happened to me today. So it's Scott's fault in his eyes." She said. "Daddy being overprotective, I guess."

"So Scott got detention?"

"Suspension, for fighting on school grounds." Kaytee corrected. "And he's not allowed to talk to me or anything like that."

Jess nodded. "So, who are you going to hang with now?" He asked.

Kaytee shrugged and closed her locker rather hard, slamming it hard enough to cause a short echo to sound in the loud hallways.

"I'm not sure, really," she said. "Maybe I'll hang in the library during lunch. I don't really need friends anyways."

"How about me and you start hanging out? Like here at school and at home, maybe? We could be homework buddies and just buddies in general, if you'd like," Jess suggested.

Kaytee smiled and stood up. She hugged Jess and then pulled away from him quickly. She smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks so much, Jess." She said.

"Hey, it's no big deal." Jess said.

"Want to hang at my place?" She asked. "We could get started on homework."

Jess smiled.

"Sure," he agreed.

Jess and Kaytee headed out to the bus stop and only as the bus arrived at his and Kaytee's stop did Jess realize that he was going to be entering Leslie's house for the first time in months. His heart pounded with grief and fear and when Kaytee jumped off the bus while dragging him with his arm in her grip, his grief only worsened. Kaytee turned around and smiled. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him into her backyard. It was fairly messy, with wooden boards and nails and bricks strewn all over the yard. Kaytee chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess," she said. "Dad's been working on the roof for the last couple weeks but he pulled a muscle in his back so we've gotten a little behind with the remodeling."

Jess smiled. "It's alright," he said.

Kaytee smiled and ran up to the back door and took out her keys. While Kaytee unlocked the door, Jess started to notice details in the yard that weren't there before when Leslie and her parents lived in the house. The windows were replaced so now a person could enter into the house through the window if they felt like it. There weren't any garden gnomes anywhere but Jess knew the Burkes hadn't had any garden gnomes either. It was just something Jess noticed right now. But he spotted a very expensive car in the garage that hadn't been there before when Leslie lived in the house. It was a shiny new gold Hummer. Jess had figured that the Monroes were better off than his family when he first met them but he now knew that Kaytee's dad was rich. No wonder Kaytee traveled everywhere.

"Okay, come on in!" Kaytee said. She walked inside the house and dumped her bag inside the hallway by the door. Jess followed her inside, dropping his bag by Kaytee's. The house had been given a complete renovation. Everything from the walls to the actual rooms had greatly changed since Jess had last been in the house where his Queen had lived.

"Hi, Lucy!" Jess heard Kaytee say.

Kaytee walked out of the living room with a tuxedo cat in her arms. The cat hissed at Jess and Kaytee started to rub its head to try and calm it down. Jess glared at the cat.

"Aw, baby, don't be mean to our guest." She cooed to the cat. The cat glared at Jess and then leapt out of Kaytee's arms and went upstairs. Kaytee chuckled nervously.

"Sorry about that, Jess. Lucy's really territorial." She said. "She was territorial before in our old house and she's territorial here too. Once she gets to know you though, she'll like you."

"It's okay. I get it that the cat doesn't like strangers." No duh Lucy didn't like him. If Lucy was a lion, Jess knew he would qualify as her lunch.

Kaytee grinned back. "Want something to eat?" She asked.

Jess nodded and followed Kaytee into the kitchen. Even the kitchen had been renovated to the point where Jess couldn't recognize anything familiar at all. The flowery wallpaper that used to be on the walls had been torn down and was replaced with sky blue walls and light green walls that half looked like they had been painted by an amateur and half looked like it was painted by somebody who knew what he or she was doing. Probably Kaytee and her dad had done the painting themselves instead of hiring somebody to do it for them. Kaytee's parts looked like something the Burkes had done when they had painted the Golden Room. It had obviously been done completely unprofessionally but that it still looked good with the rest of the room.

"So your dad doesn't like wallpaper?" Jess asked.

"Nope." Kaytee said, reaching for a box of Oreos off the top of the refrigerator. "He thought it was really ugly and we tore it down even before we started renovating the kitchen. He couldn't bear to look at it. Cookie?"

Jess took one of the cookies from the box and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully. Kaytee sat down on the counter and looked at the pictures hanging by the window. All of them were pictures of her and her dad during different holidays and occasions.

"So where's your dad?" Jess asked.

"At work." Kaytee said. "He said today he's going to be late since they're trying to finish the repairs on the church they're working on."

"So your dad's a-"

"He's got a part time job as a laborer but he's going to quit being a laborer soon and he's going to open a gun shop, since that's the kind of business he owned back in Philadelphia." Kaytee explained. "He's just trying to earn enough money to finish the house first before he starts chasing his ambitions."

Jess nodded. Lucy came stalking into the kitchen, her tail held up high in the air and her chin raised with pride. She looked at Jess, who rolled his eyes at her. Jess hadn't been in the same house as the cat for no more than ten minutes and Lucy was already getting on his nerves. The only thing that stopped Jess from strangling Lucy was Kaytee, who fondly continued to give her hugs and kisses, even if Lucy was being disrespectful.

"Hey, Lucy." Kaytee said. Lucy jumped up onto the counter and glared back at Jess.

"But didn't your dad come to see you at school because Mr. Hawkins wanted to talk to him?" Jess asked.

Kaytee nodded and took a bite of an Oreo.

"Yeah, he did but he went back to work because he needs to collect his paycheck for the week," she explained. "It's a Friday and he only gets paid on Fridays."

"Oh, okay." Jess said.

Kaytee hopped off the counter and smiled.

"Ready to do homework?" She asked.

Jess shrugged. "Sure," he said.

Kaytee walked out into the hallway and picked up her backpack and threw Jess's bag to him. Jess caught it. Kaytee smiled.

"Good catch!" She said with a chuckle.

Jess chuckled. "Good throw!" He said.

Kaytee grinned and pumped her arm up in the air a few times to flaunt her throwing ability. "It's all in the arm."

Jess and Kaytee headed into the living room, where Jess immediately recognized it as the Golden Room. Now, it was painted over with a light blue color. Jess felt a little sad that the Golden Room was no more but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, it wasn't his house. It wasn't Leslie's either, sadly.

Kaytee put her bag down and sat down in an ancient chair that looked like something that had existed around the WWII time period and now looked like it was going to break apart and shatter, while taking Kaytee down with it. But the chair remained upright, so Kaytee did as well. She smiled and flipped open to the page in her algebra book that they were going to have to do for homework. She stared at it and then shut the book and threw it onto the floor where it slammed down with a bang.

"I don't feel like doing homework." She admitted, throwing her hands in the air.

Jess nodded and stuffed his algebra book back into his book bag. He grinned.

"Me neither." He said.

"So now what do we do?" Kaytee asked.

"I don't know. I think I'll head home." Jess said, standing up.

"Aw, but it's still early!" Kaytee whined, glancing at the clock on the mantle. It was only four in the afternoon but Jess knew he had to head home and hit the books, even if he didn't want to.

"I have to go help my dad in the greenhouse and then there's homework..." Jess lied.

"Aw, well, okay." Kaytee said, although she didn't look as if she bought Jess's lie completely.

Kaytee showed Jess out the door and as Jess crossed over to his family's yard, he heard Kaytee call him name. He turned around and he saw her smiling at him from where she stood on her own house's doorstep.

"See you at school tomorrow!" She called, waving to Jess.

Jess waved back to her and then headed into his own house and slammed the door. He sighed with relief when he saw the familiar surroundings of his house but he had to admit that Kaytee's own house looked great, despite having changed so much to please hers and her dad's personal tastes. At least he had somebody to hang with from now on. Maybe he could even show Kaytee to the world known as Terabithia one day.

Maybe.

But for now, Kaytee and Jess were just going to be friends. Jess knew if he got to know Kaytee a little better, then maybe he could introduce her to Terabithia. However, he wasn't sure if she even had a broad imagination like him and May Belle and Leslie. That was one thing he was going have to wait to find out for himself.

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><p><strong>Well, I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter! More to come once school's over. (whenever that is…)<strong>


	11. Over

**Hai... o3o''' this is awkward. How about you guys just read the chapter right now instead of reading what I'll tell you at the bottom of the page? Enjoy! (sorry for dying for so long! the explanation is at the bottom of the page!)**

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><p>Chapter 11: Over<p>

"Hey, Jess, Kaytee's here!" May Belle shouted from downstairs.

Jess' eyes shot open as a jolt of shock ran up his spine. It was still really early - about 5:33 in the morning according to his alarm clock - so he couldn't exactly understand why Kaytee had come over while it was so early. He could understand her being a morning person, but five in the morning was too early, even for him. Jess somehow dragged himself out from the warm confines of his bed covers and got dressed, before he shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen where Kaytee was, being kept company by May Belle. His neighbor wore a bright red raincoat and rubber rain boots to match, both dripping in water. Jess glanced outside and suddenly noticed how heavy it was raining. It looked like it would never end.

"Hey, Kaytee, what's new?"

Kaytee smiled. "I heard the river down in the forest has started flooding due to all of this rain."

"Has it really?"

Kaytee nodded. "Yep."

"How high has the river risen?"

"High enough that it's starting to move past the banks," Kaytee said. "Sooner or later, all of the extra water will most likely travel as far as it can."

"That means part of the neighborhood could be flooded."

"That's why Dad has gone into town to get more sand bags."

"Are you worried that the flood water will reach the neighborhood?" May Belle asked Kaytee.

Jess noticed his sister looked really scared, almost like she was convinced the whole world was suddenly going to flood. Jess cast Kaytee a meaningful look that she immediately understood. With a smile that gave away nothing at all to May Belle, Kaytee said:

"Dad's gone to get sand bags just in case," she explained gently. "Besides, he also needs them for work so don't worry your little head over that. There's no way the floodwaters will reach our lovely little neighborhood."

"Hey, May Belle, go see if Mom needs help with anything."

May Belle pouted, but she ran upstairs to go find her mother.

As soon as May Belle was out of earshot, Jess turned to Kaytee, concern etched on his face.

"How bad is it really?" He asked in a low voice.

"Pretty bad," Kaytee murmured. "There's sandbags placed all around the river, five or six bags high all around. Dad says the sandbags that are currently there won't be enough to hold the water back forever. If we're lucky, the downpour will stop eventually."

Jess glanced out the window. "Sure doesn't look like it."

"That's why I suggest you get everything that's valuable stored in a safe place that the water won't reach it. That's what Dad and I have done with our belongings already. All our valuables are up in the attic, sealed in watertight bags."

"It's that bad, isn't it?"

Kaytee nodded. "I haven't even told you all the bad news."

"There's more?" Jess sounded incredulous.

"Instead of telling you, how about I show you?"

Jess raised an eyebrow at Kaytee but she suddenly pushed him out of the kitchen and gave him an encouraging push towards the stairs.

"Get your coat and let's go!"

Jess ran up the stairs and into his room. At the sight of his messy room, he was suddenly a little discouraged at the sight of it, but he refused to let that stop him from finding something that would protect him from the weather outside. He started rummaging through the piles of clothing scattered across the floor of his room, searching all over the room for his rain coat. His mother poked her head in the doorway after a few minutes, having heard frantic footsteps from the next room over.

"Jess, what are you doing?"

"I can't find my raincoat!"

His mother groaned, and Jess looked over at her.

"We forgot to buy you a new raincoat." She groaned.

Jess smiled at his mother, and dropped the clothes he was currently holding, letting them fall to the floor in a messy heap.

"It's alright," he said. "I just realized I don't need it."

His mother nodded and left. Jess shook his head. Now what was he going to do?

Feeling slightly disgruntled, Jess went back downstairs to the kitchen. At the sight of the lack of a rain coat on him, Kaytee raised an eyebrow.

"Where's your rain coat?" She inquired.

Jess shrugged his shoulders. "Don't have one."

Kaytee bit her lip quizzically, contemplating what to do next.

"You know, you can just tell me the bad news?"

"Words can't describe what's happening down at the river. Stay here and I'll go get a spare rain coat from my house. I'll be right back."

Before Jess could protest, Kaytee ran out the door into the pouring rain. He hoped she'd be back like she promised.

Although it felt like forever, standing there in the empty kitchen waiting for Kaytee to get back to his house, Kaytee eventually came running back into the kitchen, water droplets sliding off of her red rain coat like many endless streams. With a smile, Kaytee handed Jess the raincoat in her hands. Jess took it and pulled it on. It felt a little big, but at least he had a raincoat that could withstand the hellish weather outside.

"It might be a little big but it looks pretty good on you." Kaytee said.

"Let me guess, it's your dad's?" Jess asked.

Kaytee smiled sweetly. "How'd you know?" Jess noticed she sounded a little sarcastic but he chose not to comment.

"Well, let's get moving."

"So, how long have you lived here in Lark Creek?" Kaytee asked as they trudged through the muddy forest.

"Been born and raised here," Jess answered. "So about thirteen, fourteen years…"

"Cool," Kaytee said. "Growing up, Dad and I always moved around from one place to another every now and then. Wherever we moved, it never felt right for him. I just hope Lark Creek serves him well for a while, at least, because I love this place."

"It'd be great if you could stay here."

Kaytee looked at Jess, looking a little surprised and somewhat touched.

"You really mean that?" She asked.

"Definitely," Jess replied. "It'd be nice to have a kid my own age who I can relate to living in my neighborhood. Somebody I can consider a friend."

"You trust me that much to call me your friend?"

"Hey, you got me out of trouble with Mr. Hawkins. You seem more than trustworthy enough that this point."

Kaytee nodded, remembering that horrible day.

"That's true. And thank you, Jess."

Jess smiled. "No problem. So, mind telling what's going on in the forest?"

Jess heard Kaytee suck in her breath, like she had just been punched. He glanced over at her, squinting as he tried to get a clear look of Kaytee's face. Although the heavy rain blurred his vision to the point where he thought he was going blind, Jess could see the shock written on her face.

"Jess, watch out!" Came the startling scream.

Jess suddenly heard the rush of the river and he slipped, sliding down the hill straight into the river. Jess screamed as he clawed at the muddy ground, desperately trying to get a grip to stop his fall.

"Jess!" Kaytee screamed.

"Grab my hand!"

Jess looked up and spotted Kaytee holding her hand out to him and he reached up with on hand, holding a fragile grip of the ground with his other hand. He felt the ground sliding underneath him, and the thought of him dying flashed through his mind.

_This is it…_ He thought sadly.

"No, Jess, grab my hand!" Kaytee screamed.

Jess tried to grab Kaytee's hand but the unusually rough current of the water was pulling at him, trying to pull him in. Kaytee leaned forward as much as she was able to without being brought into the current as well. Jess felt Kaytee's grip on his wrist as she tried to pull him back onto safety but the heavy current and the slippery ground seemed to be pulling him to his impending doom. Jess smiled at Kaytee, teeth showing.

"It's okay." He whispered.

Before Kaytee could say anything, Jess grabbed her hand and pulled his arm out of her grip, letting himself get swept into the current. Tears spilled onto Kaytee's cheeks as she watched in horror as her friend was swept up into the current.

"_JESS!" _Kaytee screamed at the top of her lungs, which was the last thing he heard before the water swallowed him whole.

_It's okay, it's over…_

Jess closed his eyes and allowed himself to sink to the bottom. He smiled to himself as Leslie's shining face appeared in his mind.

_It's finally okay…_

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger. Shoot. Well, don't worry! I already have the next chapter already prepared, I just have to type it up and then I'll try to update this story more often. To the people who have been loyally reading and reviewing this story, I just want to thank you so, SO, SO MUCH for doing that for every chapter! I just appreciate it so much and if I could meet you guys, I'd give each and every one of you a big bear hug for a thank you! Thank you so much! Without you guys, this story would not be where it's currently at! So thank you guys for that too!<strong>

**As for why I've been dead for over six months(?) is because I got so caught up with school and my grades in certain subjects were borderline grades (and they still are) so I was just under so much stress that I wasn't able to write anything. ANYTHING AT ALL. It was just so hard for me to keep my grades up that I barely had any energy to write at all. So that's why I wasn't able to update. It makes me sad because you guys kept on reviewing and constantly coming back and asking me when I was going to update and that just made me so happy to know you guys were still following me. I can't thank you guys enough for that. (:**

**- FluffyParakeet**


	12. Truth

**This is probably my third attempt at writing this chapter, so I do hope you all like it. :-3 Enjoy!**

**P.S. I **_**think **_**I already told you guys what Kaytee's dad's name is but his name will appear several times in this chapter. This is just a head's up! :-3 **

**Oh, and by the way, I'm back in school, so I will be rarely and randomly updating this fanfiction, but I do have a goal to finish this before this year is over. Unfortunately, school is my first priority and then comes everything else like drawing and writing… sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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><p>Chapter 12: Truth<p>

"He's lucky he didn't drown when he fell in," a soft voice commented.

"What was he doing by a river in this weather?" Another person added, maintaining the same quiet tone.

Wakened by the voices, Jess felt himself slowly regaining control of his body, but he found he couldn't move much. Every limb of his ached painfully. He desperately wanted to open his eyes, but they felt so _heavy, _like somebody had attached weights to his eyelids to keep them from opening. Just as he got the feeling back in his arms and legs, Jess felt pain hit him like a bulldozer and he screamed out, alerting the people in the room.

"Is he alright?"

"Yes, he's fine. He just needs to be put on another dose of painkillers," somebody said, "much stronger pain killers."

"On it," another person said. There was a slight clatter in the background, before Jess felt something sharp prick his skin in several areas. It hurt a lot, but he felt too exhausted to protest and he blacked out soon after the needle pierced his skin.

It took a while for the painkillers to wear off, but when Jess woke up, he saw Kaytee sitting in the chair by his bed, asleep in the chair. She looked comfortable, dressed in some dry clothes that her father had probably brought her and it amazed him how she was able to find a comfortable sleeping position in that uncomfortable-looking chair. It annoyed Jess, because he wondered why the hospital couldn't have found something nicer for her to sit in.

Then again, she had been born into a family who all knew how to adapt to any situation life threw at them. Jess looked around, and found nobody else in the room. There wasn't even a doctor or nurse in sight and it worried him just a little bit. He wasn't sure if he was in stable condition yet, but he hoped that a doctor or a nurse would come in soon and let him know what had happened.

Jess turned his head and looked over at Kaytee. She was fast asleep, but he hoped he could wake her up. If he really put some effort into it, he could probably wake Kaytee up in one try, but Jess seriously doubted he could. Plus, he felt a little bad for waking Kaytee up, especially because she looked so peaceful sleeping in the chair by his bed.

"Kay…" he rasped, unable to speak. His throat felt scratchy and dry, but he had to wake her up. He needed answers. He needed to know how he had gotten into this hospital. Why wasn't he dead? He thought he had drowned in the river. _He had seen Leslie._

"Kaytee…" He tried again, managing to say her name before his dry throat cut him off from saying anything else.

The redhead sleeping in the chair by his bed stirred, but she didn't wake up. Jess swallowed and tried to clear his throat so he could talk. He needed to wake Kaytee up, and he couldn't wait until she woke up on her own. He had questions that needed to be answered, and they needed to be answered _right now. _

"Kaytee, wake up…"

She didn't stir, but Jess wasn't giving up now. He was going to shake her awake if he absolutely had to, but the chances of getting out of bed looked pretty unlikely judging by how many needles were sticking out of his arm. Jess wanted answers, but he wasn't going to risk his health – which was probably not in the best condition right now – by doing anything stupid, which didn't leave him with a whole lot of options other than keep bugging Kaytee until she woke up. Even after he tugged on her arm with his free arm that wasn't tangled up around annoying wires and pesky needles, Kaytee didn't even move so much as an inch in response to anything Jess did, whether it was call her name or grab her hand and shake her the best he could without causing the needles to move or fall out.

Even though he felt really frustrated, Jess knew he had to give Kaytee some credit for her resilience. She could sleep through a monstrous hurricane if she wanted to.

"Kaytee," he called again, only much louder this time.

That seemed to do it. At the sound of his voice, Kaytee flinched in her seat and her eyelids flew open. For a second, she looked disoriented and was ready to go back to sleep but as soon as her eyes locked with his, she covered the distance between them in less than a second and wrapped her arms around him, careful to avoid the needles and wires surrounding him. Jess gasped out in surprise, this being the first time Kaytee had ever allowed any physical contact between them. He assumed that after Scott had put his hands on her, Kaytee didn't want to have any kind of close physical contact with anybody, except maybe her dad.

"We thought you weren't going to make it through!" Kaytee cried. "I thought I was too late!"

_So that explains it…_

"You saved me?" Jess whispered.

"Yeah," Kaytee whispered back. "I did. I pulled you out from the river, but I was worried you weren't going to make it…"

Kaytee pulled away from him and sat back in the chair, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"Dad found us a while after you went unconscious. Somehow he figured out that we were in the forest when we shouldn't have been but we're not in trouble."

"Why did you take me down there in the first place?"

Kaytee sighed and reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, a small thing really. When Jess saw the light shining dimly on her face, he was surprised it was still working, but then he realized that Kaytee had never fallen into the water like he had. It seemed that he was having the worst luck lately…

After surfing through the images on her phone for a few minutes, Kaytee finally turned the screen to Jess and showed him the image on the screen. Jess squinted to see the image against the bright light but once his eyes adjusted, his mouth dropped in horror. Jess glanced at Kaytee for a fraction of a second, before turning his attention back to the image on the tiny screen. If his vision wasn't playing tricks with him, he _knew _he was looking at a picture of the bridge he had built a few summers ago, now in a broken pile of wood that was damming up the river. Even though the small screen hid most of the damage, Jess was horrified.

"How did this happen?" He asked, almost to himself.

"I don't know. I wanted to show you, but you ended up, well, taking a dip in the river before I could show you."

Jess felt like slapping her. He glared daggers at Kaytee, but they didn't seem to be able to penetrate her seemingly impenetrable armor. He could see she was sorry just from the look in her eyes, and he didn't need her to say another word to him.

"I'm sorry this happened, Jess."

"It's okay. At least I'm not dead." _Although I should be, _he added silently.

After all, w_hy did I see Leslie?_

"Come on, Jess! Don't tell me you're not at least a _little_ angry at me?"

"Why should I be? You didn't do anything. It's my fault I fell into the river in the first place."

"I know, but I could have just _told you _about the bridge!"

"Why didn't you?"

"I was worried you wouldn't believe me!"

Jess had to groan. "Kaytee, I trust you. I always have."

Before Kaytee could say anything in response to his words, the door opened and Kaytee's father entered.

"I heard somebody's awake." He grumbled.

"Hello, sir," Jess said, nodding his head to the man.

"Hey, Dad," Kaytee said.

"I heard you two got into a little trouble down by the river." Mr. Monroe said.

"Trouble is an understatement," Kaytee sighed.

"Mr. Monroe—"

"Please, call me Tex."

"It's short for Texas!" Kaytee whispered loudly to Jess.

_Cool name…_

Tex grabbed a chair sitting in the corner in the room and carried it over to where Kaytee sat by Jess's hospital bed and sat down. He looked stern, and it frightened Jess just a little bit.

"You understand that the bridge down by the river has collapsed, am I right?"

Jess nodded. He glanced at Kaytee, and saw her nod too, but she didn't look at him. Her eyes were fixed on her father, and so Jess turned his attention back to him as well. Tex reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of letters that were covered in grime and were tied together with a piece of rope. Jess's eyes widened.

"What are those?"

"Letters that Kaytee found in the attic when we moved in," Tex explained without looking at him. He began to fiddle with the rope, trying to release the letters from their bindings.

"There's no address," Tex added as he pulled out his switchblade and began to cut away at the ropes that kept the letters together. "It's almost as if they were supposed to be delivered, but whoever wrote them never got around to it."

After a good hard tug with his blade, the ropes finally broke, releasing the letters from their bindings. Tex handed the stack of letters over to Jess and stood up.

"The doctors say you'll be out of here by next Friday."

Jess's heart skipped a beat. Next Friday? That was almost a whole week! He couldn't be kept in the hospital for that long! There was no way he'd survive!

"The doctors want to make sure that you're under close watch for a few days and they'll decide where they'll go from there."

Jess nodded, but he felt disgruntled. Why, of all people, did this have to happen to him?

"I'll be back in a few hours to check on you two. Kaytee, here's a twenty so you can get some food if you're hungry." Tex said, handing the bill to his daughter.

"Thanks, Dad."

With a tip of his hat, Tex walked out of the hospital room, leaving Jess and Kaytee sitting there in silence with a medium-sized stack of letters scattered on the bed. Jess reached over and picked one up, but put it back down with the rest of the pile.

"I don't want to open them."

"I'll open it, then." Kaytee said, reaching for one of the letters.

"No, don't."

"Well, why not?"

Jess shook his head and began to gather the letters into a single pile. After managing to stack them all up into one neat pile, he placed them on the bedside table and lay down.

"Considering how much time I'm going to be spending in this room, I'll open them later so I have something to do."

"But you realize that there's something strange going on in the forest, right?" Kaytee looked anxious.

To the best of his ability, Jess nodded. "It's like the rope by the river," he murmured.

"Are you talking about the rope that was cut down? What about it?"

"Well, it wasn't cut down. When the girl who used to live in your house, her name was Leslie, tried to swing across the river to reach the other side of the riverbank using the rope, it broke under her weight."

Kaytee covered her mouth in horror, her eyes wide with terror.

"Oh, no…" she whispered.

"And she hit her head and drowned." Jess whispered.

Kaytee looked absolutely horrified. Her hands were clamped around her mouth and Jess could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Jess…" She whispered.

Jess smiled weakly at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. He was feeling just as grief-stricken and bitter as Kaytee, although it had already been three years since Leslie had passed away.

_Then who is that girl I keep on seeing running through the forest?_

"I didn't know…"

"Its okay, Kaytee," Jess said, but he felt sullen. He didn't want to tell her that it was his fault it had happened.

_If only I had invited her to come with me to the museum…_

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><p><strong>And I'm stopping it there! I understand that it's been a while since I updated (I'm pretty sure I've already told you guys this story before billions of times) but I'm still getting reviews every now and then, so thank you so much for supporting me! I'd like to say that I've finally reached the half-way point for this story, so there will be at least ten more chapters before it is completely over with, but I'll see. Depending on where the wind takes me, the rest of the story might even be done in exactly ten chapters. Brace yourselves, folks, it's going to get interesting!<strong>

**P.S. Just out of curiosity, how many of you thought Jess was dead just by the ending of the previous chapter?**


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